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Psychology 121 > Chapter 8 > Flashcards

Chapter 8 Flashcards

1
Q

Norms

A

Rules that regulate social life, including explicit laws and implicit conventions
Normal: Just like me

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2
Q

Role

A

A given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper behaviour. Social Roles are shaped by culture

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3
Q

Culture

A

A program of shared rules that governs the behaviour of people in a community or society.

A set of values, beliefs, and customs shared by most members of that community.

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4
Q

Obedience Study

A

Designed by Milgram, a series of studies to test whether people would obey an authority figure when directly ordered to violate their ethical standards.

Every participant administered some amount of shock and 65% of participants shocked the participant all the way to 500V. Would the results differ with women, children, teens, etc.

Disobeyed the law of ethics: participants couldn’t leave the study and they weren’t informed about the experiment fully. For this reason it could not be replicated

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5
Q

Factors Leading to Disobedience (5)

A
  1. When the experimenter left the room
  2. When the victim was right there in the room
  3. When two experimenters issued conflicting demands
  4. When the person ordering them to continue was an ordinary man
  5. When the participant worked with peers who refused to go further
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6
Q

Milgram Concluded..

A

Milgram concluded:
Obedience is a function of the situation

Participants see themselves as instruments to effect the wishes of person in authority

Critics question both the ethics and validity of Milgram’s study

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7
Q

Evaluation of Obedience Study

A

Raises ethical questions regarding the use of deception in study

People thought research was counting on their behaviour
Ethical concern over emotional pain experienced by participants

Influence of the situation over personality traits questioned by some

Linked to actions in Nazi Germany and prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib in Bagdad

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8
Q

Standford Prison Experiment

A

Designed by Zimbardo and Haney

Male university students randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards
Prisoner role – associated with distress, helplessness, apathy, rebellion, and panic
Guard role – some were nice, others “tough but fair”, but a third of guards became punitive and harsh

Powerful demonstration of how the social situation affects behaviour

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9
Q

Why People Obeyed? (4)

A
  1. Allocating responsibility to the authority
  2. Routinizing the task
  3. Wanting to be polite
  4. Entrapment:
    gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time, money, or effort
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10
Q

Social Influences on Beliefs

A

Social cognition:
-An area in social psychology concerned with social influences on thought, memory, perception, and beliefs

Current approaches draw on evolutionary theory, neuroimaging, surveys and experiments

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11
Q

Attribution Theory

A

Argues that people are motivated to explain their own and other people’s behaviour by attributing causes of that behaviour to a situation or a disposition

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12
Q

Situational Attribution

A

Something in the situation or environment caused the behaviour

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13
Q

Dispositional Attribution

A

Something in the person (e.g., traits or motive) caused the behaviour

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14
Q

Fundamental Attribution Error

A

The tendency, in explaining
other people’s behaviour, to
overestimate personality factors
and underestimate the influence of the situation

More prevalent in Western versus Eastern cultures

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15
Q

Why We Make the Fundamental Attribution Error? (3)

A
  1. Self-serving bias
  2. Group-serving bias
  3. Just-world bias
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16
Q

Self-serving Bias

A

The tendency, in explaining one’s own behaviour, to take credit for good actions and rationalize mistakes

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17
Q

Group-serving Bias

A

The tendency to explain favourably the behaviours of members of groups to which we belong

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18
Q

Just-world Hypothesis

A

Notion that people need to believe the world is fair and justice is served; bad people are punished and good people are rewarded
When assumption called into question, people may engage in attributions involving blaming the victim

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19
Q

Attitudes

A

Attitudes are beliefs about people, groups, ideas or activities

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20
Q

Explicit Attitude

A

An attitude that we are aware of, that shapes our conscious decisions and actions, and that can be measured on questionnaires

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21
Q

Implicit Attitudes

A

an attitude that we are unaware of, that may influence our behaviour in ways we do not recognize, and that is measured in various indirect ways

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22
Q

Attitude Change

A

Attitudes may change with new experiences and information, but also because of need for consistency

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23
Q

Cognitive Dissonance

A

State of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are inconsistent; or when beliefs are incongruent with behaviour. Resolved by changing attitude or behaviour.

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24
Q

Familiarity Effect

A

When people feel more positively toward a person, item, or product the more familiar they are with it

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25
Q

Validity Effect

A

When people believe a statement is true or valid simply because it has been repeated many times

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26
Q

Do Genes Influence Attitudes

A

Attitudes are combination of learning, experience, and genetics

  • Religious affiliation (the religion chosen) is not heritable; religiosity (the depth of religious feeling) has a genetic component
  • Political affiliation is not heritable; political conservatism is highly heritable
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27
Q

Identical Twin Studies

A

Suggests that while genetics accounts for some attitudes, most result from ‘non shared environment’ -unique life experiences

28
Q

Persuasion or “Brainwashing”

A

Brainwashing implies a person is unaware of why they change their minds

29
Q

Coercive Persuasion

A

Designed to suppress an individual’s ability to reason, think critically, and make choices in his or her own best interests

30
Q

Coercive Persuasion Occurs When.. (4)

A
  1. The person is subjected to entrapment
  2. The person’s problems are reduced to one simple attribution, which is repeatedly emphasized
  3. The person is offered a new identity and is promised salvation
  4. The person’s access to disconfirming (dissonant) information is severely controlled
    * **Key is to dispel people’s illusions of invulnerability to coercive persuasion tactics
31
Q

Need to Belong is Powerful Motivation

A

Social pain often worse than physical pain

Solitary confinement is internationally considered torture: ex. Time out.. Sort of

32
Q

Social rejection ensures group members’ cooperation

A

When in a group we often behave differently than we would on our own

33
Q

Group Behaviour and Conformity

A

Decisions we make in groups depend more on group structure & dynamics compared to personal factors

34
Q

Conformity

A

Conformity involves taking action or adopting attitudes as a result of real or imagined group pressure

E.g., Asch’s line studies

Related to both social norms and culture

35
Q

Groupthink

A

Groupthink is a tendency for all members of a group to think alike for the sake of harmony and to suppress disagreement

36
Q

Symptoms of Groupthink (4)

A
  1. An illusion of invulnerability
  2. Self-censorship
  3. Pressure on dissenters to to conform
  4. An illusion of unanimity
37
Q

Diffusion of responsibility

A

In groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking action because they assume others will

38
Q

Bystander Apathy

A

In crowds, individuals’ failure to take action or call for help because they assume someone else will do so (e.g., Kitty Genovese)

39
Q

Social Loafing

A

In work groups, where each member of a team slows down, letting others work harder

40
Q

Deindividuation

A

In groups or crowds, the loss of awareness of one’s own individuality

41
Q

Factors influencing deindividuation:

A

Size of the city or group; wearing uniforms or masks

42
Q

Influences conforming to the norm of the specific situation, not overall mindlessness

A

Implications for sense of responsibility for behaviour

43
Q

Altruism

A

The willingness to take selfless or dangerous action on behalf of others

Includes disobeying orders believed to be wrong or going against prevailing beliefs (dissent)

E.g., fight for Canadian women to have legal status

44
Q

Situational factors in altruism & dissent:

A
  1. Perceive the need for intervention or help
  2. Cultural norms encourage you to take action
  3. You have an ally
  4. You become entrapped
45
Q

Social Identity

A

The part of a person’s self-concept that is based on their identification with a nation, religious or political group, occupation, or other social affiliation

46
Q

Ethnic Identity

A

A person’s identification with a racial or ethnic group

47
Q

Acculturation

A

The process by which members of minority groups come to identify with the mainstream culture

48
Q

Ethnocentrism

A

The belief that your own ethnic group, nation, or religion is superior to all others
Universal belief & may aid survival

Based on social identity of “us”, where everyone else is “them”

Fostered by competition, reduced by interdependence in reaching mutual goals

E.g., Robbers Cave studies

49
Q

Robber Cave Experiment

A

Boys randomly assigned to be “Eagles” or “Rattlers”

Competitions fostered hostility between groups

Situations that required cooperation for success reduced hostility & increased cross-group friendships

50
Q

Stereotype

A

Summary impression of a group, in which a person believes that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive, negative or neutral)

51
Q

Stereotypes Distort Reality in 3 Ways

A
  1. Exaggerate differences between groups
  2. Produce selective perception
  3. Underestimate differences within other groups
52
Q

Prejudice and its Origins

A

A strong, unreasonable dislike or hatred of a group, based on a negative stereotype
The origins of prejudice are universal because it has so many sources and functions:

Psychological, social, economic, and cultural

53
Q

Psychological Causes of Prejudice

A

People inflate their own self-worth by disliking groups they see as inferior
Terror management theory– prejudice helps defend against existential terror of death (far reaching.. Less vulnerable maybe?)

54
Q

Social Causes of Prejudice

A

By disliking “them”, we feel closer to others who are like us

55
Q

Economic Causes of Prejudice

A

Legitimizes unequal economic treatment

Oldest prejudice is sexism
Hostile sexism 
– active dislike of women
Benevolent sexism 
– puts women on a pedestal
56
Q

Cultural and National Causes of Prejudice

A

Bonds people to their own ethnic or national group

57
Q

Defining and Measuring Prejudice

A

Not all people are prejudiced in the same way or to the same extent

People know they should not be prejudiced so measures of these attitudes have declined

Difference between explicit and implicit prejudice

58
Q

Measure of Social Distance

A

Possible behavioural expression of prejudice; a reluctance to get “too close” to another group

59
Q

Measures of what people do when stressed or angry

A

When angry, drunk, or frustrated, people often express their prejudice

60
Q

Measure of Brain Activity

A

fMRI and PET scans determine which brain areas involved in forming stereotypes, holding prejudiced beliefs, and negative feelings toward another group

61
Q

Measures o Implicit Attitudes

A

Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures the speed of people’s positive and negative associations to a target group (not much validity)

62
Q

Measure Implicit Prejudice

A

Measures of symbolic racism
Measures of behaviours rather than attitudes
Measures of unconscious associations with target group (e.g., Implicit Association Test

63
Q

Reducing Prejudice and Conflict (4)

A
  1. Both sides must have equal legal status, economic opportunities, and power
  2. Authorities and community institutions must provide moral, legal, and economic support for both sides
  3. Both sides must have opportunities to work and socialize together, formally and informally
  4. Both sides must cooperate, working together for a common goal
64
Q

Social and cultural psychology would argue that ALL human beings contain the potential for both good and evil

A

Normal processes involving roles and situations can often lead people to behave in ways they may not otherwise

65
Q

Expectations of different cultures can lead to fundamental attribution errors examples

A

Shaking hands, and bartering

66
Q

Language-based cultural practices are very difficult to understand examples

A

deliberate insincerity

Psychology 121 (10 decks)

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